Melinda, Thanks, and one important point: whenever you pinpoint your common ancestor, you have really taken the DNA back to both the man AND his wife!! Unless the man had two wives and you descend from one and your match descends from the other wife. So, presuming you both descend from the same husband-wife team (even if you don't know her name), then you really don't know if your matching DNA came from his parents or hers. You DO know however that all the links from the common couple down to you are now confirmed through matching DNA. That's because the only way you and your match could have the same DNA is if one of your ancestral couples had that DNA and passed it down through the generations to you. Don't be afraid to look out beyond close cousins for your close matches. If you had cousins who married in your ancestry (we all do somewhere) or if you share two ancestors with your match, then the DNA is "doubled up" and it looks to the FTDNA computer as a closer cousin. Jim - Sent from my iPhone - FaceTime! On Sep 24, 2010, at 10:47 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Jim, > > I participated to the FFDNA project early this summer (after your original message to explain to us what it is) and received 62 matches. As a female, I think it is interesting to note that almost all of my matches are to males. I contacted the 2 men who I was shown as being closest to and have yet to find the common ancestor but we are having a good time trying! > > I think a group from HCPD is a terrific idea. I have joined the COLLINS surname group as well as the Maryland DNA group. As you stated so many of us come from families who were in the central WV area before the RevWar and must be connected in ways we are not aware of. Being able to compare our DNA not only helps us get past the proverbial "brick wall" but it also validates our research to this point. > > Melinda Larson > > > >